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Charging Tesla 3 standard range to maximum level

Charging Tesla 3 standard range to maximum level

Submitted by InterKOT on January 4, 2020

I heard many times that the battery, which is installed in the standard range model is the same, that is used in the long range model.
And the range is limited to 240 miles by the software only.
If this is the case, it looks like, it is perfectly safe to charge your battery to the max level almost every day, since technically you are charging your battery to about 75% of capacity, that battery is capable of
Am I wrong? Sounds like too good to be true..

shank15217 |
January 4, 2020

it is not a charge limited big battery

Magic 8 Ball |
January 4, 2020

You are wrong.

InterKOT |
January 4, 2020

But did not Elon Musk temporarily unlocked the long range capability for the victims of California fires, who own the standard range model. It looks like the battery is indeed capable of holding higher charge

InterKOT |
January 4, 2020

Tesla owners living in areas affected by the ongoing CA wildfires will be able to tap into the maximum range offered by their vehicles, even if they purchased trims that feature a software-limited battery pack. The update was confirmed by CEO Elon Musk on Twitter Monday morning.

With this update, owners of electric cars such as the Model S 40, Model S 60, and Model S 70 will be able to gain extra range for their electric cars. This is made possible by Tesla equipping the vehicles with a larger battery pack that is software-locked. The Model S 40, for example, is equipped with a 60 kWh battery that’s software-limited to 40 kWh, while the Model S 60 and Model S 70 are fitted with 75 kWh batteries that’s locked to 60 and 70 kWh. This was done to allow Tesla to sell the vehicles at lower prices, particularly during the early days of the Model S.

Tesla is yet to confirm if the Standard Range Model 3 will also have its full battery capacity unlocked, though Elon Musk’s recent announcement suggests that this will be the case. This would greatly help owners of the $35,000 Model 3, as their vehicles could essentially tap into the range offered by the slightly more expensive Model 3 Standard Range Plus

Bighorn |
January 4, 2020

Regardless if the battery is SW limited, nobody knows what part is partitioned off to safely say that the battery isn't at 100% when charged to full. This was heavily debated back when there were SW limited 60s on the Model S.

Neomaxizoomdweebie |
January 4, 2020

@InterKOT,
The Manual lists the different curb weights between the various models. SR is the lightest due to smaller battery.

Tesla2018 |
January 4, 2020

SR battery doesn't have as many cells as a LR so it can't be updated to make it a LR.

However all cars are probably software restricted to ensure they aren't overcharged or ran down all the way. Tesla could possibly change the permissable charge level to increase range but it would cause the battery to wear out faster causing warranty claims.

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

“ it is perfectly safe to charge your battery to the max level almost every day”

It is indeed perfectly safe to charge to 100% every day.

Tronguy |
January 4, 2020

@InterKOT: No, that wasn't the with respect to California.
It's like this. Take my Prius, a non-plug-in type. It's got a little battery gauge that goes from 100% to 0%. However, those of us who go manical on the technical specs know that 100% charge is really 80% charge on the NICAD pack that lives in the Hybrid. Likewise, 0% on that battery gauge is really about 20% of full charge on that battery pack.
Reason for this: Fully discharging and fully charging a NICAD (or LI-ION) battery reduces its longevity. By keeping the charge between 80% and 20% on the Prius the longevity of the battery gets 'way out there: There are Gen 3 Priuses with 200 k miles+ and the original battery pack chugging around with no problems. If you want to see a problem, then check out reports on the Honda Insight, where the engineers didn't take that kind of care; they had a lot of early failures of the battery pack. A change to the car's firmware to cure the early death (which happened during the warranty period!) had the side effect of reducing the car's gasoline MPG.. Which resulted in a class action lawsuit with Insight owners getting a pretty penny for their reduced mileage.

Tronguy |
January 4, 2020

It's highly likely that the over-the-air update sent to Teslas in disaster zones were temporary and unlocked some of that unused capacity. It's a trade off: It's pretty clear that fleeing a forest fire, hurricane or what-have-you is more important than knocking a year off the battery life. One can always get a new battery, being stuck on the side of the road when the fires, floods, or locusts overrun and kill one is a bit more permanent.
And, in a way, it's kind of cool that Tesla can actually do this. No other car manufacturer can increase the range for a time. And set it back to the way it was, all without having to visit a service center/dealership.
Oh, yeah: The M3LR weighs more than the M3SR. It's the weight of the additional batteries, no kidding.

FISHEV |
January 4, 2020

" It looks like the battery is indeed capable of holding higher charge"

If it is software limited, then yes...OK to charge to 100% as it has substantial buffer.

Again, false and bad information. Buffer can be allocated at the top or bottom, or split. That's how it's done (split) in normal, full service batteries. Not clear where they hold the buffer on FW limited versions.

Lonestar10_1999 |
January 4, 2020

@FishEV- Tesla recommends you NOT charge to 100% on a regular basis. Why do you go against the manufacturer’s recommendations?

stingray.don |
January 4, 2020

SR is a software range limited version of SR+ not the LR variant. LR has a larger battery pack.

Tronguy |
January 4, 2020

FISHEV is present. Therefore:

Public Service Announcement:

FISHEV is a known troll of several years standing and several user
names who pushes an anti Tesla narrative. Please
take his opinions with a grain of salt, avoid any advice he may
suggest, and do not let him implant any Fear, Uncertainty, or Doubt
about Tesla or your car into your own opinion.

GrumpyinAZ |
January 4, 2020

@InterKOT: There's logic and then there's the truth. We're all users of the technology and not developers of it, so we really don't know what the impacts of our usage decisions actually do. The development team thought through many of the points in this thread, and set parameters in the software to interface it with the hardware SAFELY and RELIABLY. Remember that there's a warranty on the parts here, and Tesla doesn't want to go broke replacing components that cost thousands.

Tesla is pushing the envelope on Lithium Ion batteries. For a short time, the charging limitation can be removed safely and the customer gets more mileage when a disaster like a fire or hurricane strikes a certain area of the country. But that's temporary, and Tesla reverts to the nominal limits when the crisis is over.. Safety first - both for the customer and for the car.

As for the packs themselves, Tesla does not use a 'one size fits all' battery pack and you've pointed that out. But then you contradicted yourself by discussing the software limits you believe are in place. That's where the difference between logic and truth comes in. The 'logic' behind limiting usable power is both a marketing decision and a business decision.

Now, your point is that you figure you can charge fully every day because the software 'protects' the battery from being overcharged. Elon Muisk doesn't agree, and said a couple of years ago now that you should charge up to about 85% so that the regenerative braking feature has room to recharge the battery. When you want to go on a trip, then go full charge. In the real world, there are some great examples of constant daily charging including about three years worth of shuttle service between LA and Vegas that can provide you with a lot of data to form your own conclusions. Others here in the Forum suggest that you should drain the battery down so the gauge tells you that you're down to 20% or so and then charge to full and you'll 'get back the range you've lost'. But lost range is an entirely different topic.

All of that said, probably not really necessary but said anyway, what Tesla decides to do with the operating software is their business, and we're not in a position to do anything more than pay our money and then complain. Charge away - you've got a warranty. But my advice, after lots of years programming industrial equipment is 'don't even think of messing with the control software'.

FISHEV |
January 4, 2020

"Tesla recommends you NOT charge to 100% on a regular basis."

All Li-on tech says do not charge to 100%.

In this case, if the battery is 75kW but Tesla only calls 60kW 100% for range purposes, you are only charging to 80% of the batteries capacity.

WW_spb |
January 4, 2020

Do not listen to SeaDumboTroll.

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

Welcome to 2020. The fish still hasn’t learned the difference between energy and the time rate of change of energy.

InterKOT |
January 4, 2020

"Oh, yeah: The M3LR weighs more than the M3SR. It's the weight of the additional batteries, no kidding."

Could that be the weight of the second motor? The LR is a dual motor model

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

interkot, there are single and dual motor long range model 3s.

Neomaxizoomdweebie |
January 4, 2020

RTFM. It’s all there. Search for Curb Weight. JFC.

EAPme |
January 4, 2020

Since it sounds like you asked but don't want to consider what's been written, why don't you charge to 100% despite what's been advised (and in the manual) and let us know how it goes.

Good luck

FISHEV |
January 4, 2020

It's one of those frustrating things about Tesla that no one really knows what is the size their Model 3 battery. Would it kill Tesla to have that show up in "About Your Tesla" like Apple does with iPhone and it tells you what equipment you have?

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

It would go fine. He’d lose the regenerative braking for the first several minutes of driving and then everything would be normal. It’s entirely safe. Tesla wouldn’t allow users to charge to unsafe levels (defects notwithstanding).

WW_spb |
January 4, 2020

Lol here we go again. Fish forgot that he was saying he knows battery size just few days ago, not long ago he was saying only Tesla knows and back full circle now he doesn't know once again. Mega Sea Troll is also Dumbo Fish.

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

^
This isn’t the first time I’ve quoted Lincoln WRT the fish, and likely won’t be the last:

“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”

spuzzz123 |
January 4, 2020

Fish is deliberately giving you a false sense of security with this. This is just evil. He is literally advising op to do something harmful to his car I guess with hopes he will degrade it faster and have a crappy experience.

InterKOT batteries are too expensive to create them 33% larger than necessary and then software lock them. I think they tried that with model s and reversed course due to costs. Of course the model s was a lot more expensive and maybe that cost could be covered. Standard range 3 doesn’t have that kind of profit margin..

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

"This is just evil. He is literally advising op to do something harmful to his car I guess with hopes he will degrade it faster and have a crappy experience. "

Devil's advocate: charging to 100% will increase the rate of decline, but any given user won't notice the difference without a ceteris-paribus reference. The fish however goes out of its way to preserve the battery's life (despite planning to sell the car in the near term) by imposing artificial constraints, limiting range to 60% of what's possible, and ends up with a frustrating user experience.

Charging to what one needs is sound advice.

spuzzz123 |
January 4, 2020

I dunno mab he also claims he has no home charging therefore supercharges all the time and in the winter his daily commute is so far that he charges to 100% just so he can make it there and back. Then he must supercharge every day to make it to work. This is an obvious construct to make it appear that owning a Tesla is a major inconvenience.

spuzzz123 |
January 4, 2020

And yes charge to what you need but if you don’t need it, don’t charge to 100%

WW_spb |
January 4, 2020

I still think it's not very bright idea to buy EV if you can't charge at home or at least at work. As of right now.

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

"I dunno mab he also claims he has no home charging therefore supercharges all the time and in the winter his daily commute is so far that he charges to 100% just so he can make it there and back"

90%, actually, and doesn't go below 20%, thus limiting range to 70% of what it could be (60% in summer).

"I still think it's not very bright idea to buy EV if you can't charge at home or at least at work."

As long as one is realistic (fanbois need not apply) about how EV's work, the public charging options, it can work. I have probably the most extreme situation with a long daily commute and no home charging. I pretty much have to charge daily during the work week in the cooler weather, 50F and I'm OK that in order to drive an EV and cut emissions.

Others might not be OK with that.

It is the unrealistic views of the fanbois here that are going to cause grief for new owners if they don't prepare for the issues of owning an EV. It takes planning and research to make it work.

WW_spb |
January 4, 2020

Well, I remember he claimed to charge to 75-80 per SC tech recommendation just to show later screen shot of his TeslaFi app where it shows he actually charges to 90.

Magic 8 Ball |
January 4, 2020

It is the lies and FUD, from a few regulars, that attempt to cause grief.

M-A-B-MCMLXXX |
January 4, 2020

@WW_EV_4life
"Well, I remember he claimed to charge to 75-80 per SC tech recommendation just to show later screen shot of his TeslaFi app where it shows he actually charges to 90."

This isn’t the first time I’ve quoted Lincoln WRT the fish, and likely won’t be the last:

“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”

TeslaYVR |
January 5, 2020

When I first got my LR I had to use the supercharger for the first month and I consistently charged to 98 to 99% because of the free supercharging (linked to mileage and not billed by time). I could afford to sit and wait til 98-99% and not get charged high fees. Above 95% on warm days the car didn’t slow down (regen braking) when letting go of the acceleration pedal. And on cold days it won’t regenerate brake until below 90%. I am not sure how it affects battery life but charging to 98-99% definitely requires you to alter your braking pattern and br prepared to step on brake pedal if driving in the city.

kruskalt |
March 27, 2020

I'm a brand new 3s owner and confused by this thread. When if purchased my standard range car with max 220 I was told I could pay to up grade and get 250 through software only. Tesla sales person told me the battery was the same and it was just a software limit. If this is true why is charging up to 220 a problem

FISHEV |
March 27, 2020

kruskalt | March 27, 2020 I'm a brand new 3s owner and confused by this thread. When if purchased my standard range car with max 220 I was told I could pay to up grade and get 250 through software only.

Can you still upgrade to 250 mile range? If so, how much is the cost. I wish they would let 2019 LR AWD 310 owners upgrade to 322 on identical 2020 LR AWD.

Orthopod |
March 27, 2020

I had 236 Miles available when I bought my SR
When they software limited it (they delivered a ST+) it was down to 200 miles.

That night I had charged to 100% before a big trip,
It took 20 miles before the 100% started going down.

I previously charged to 80%
Now I charge to 90/95% and roughly have the same distance.

The software limitation could be top or split

But I have stronger regen than before when I am at 100% SOC and the superchargers don’t tapper off as much as before when getting closer to 95/100% so it means there is a upper portion of the battery unusued